This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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"Hello
Nana, how are you? My husband got hit by a drone yesterday and got
killed. When I found out I was happy for him to get what he wanted and
go to paradise but at the same time I was devastated because I loved him
so much and I knew I was never gonna see him again in this life."

These
were the extraordinary words sent eight days ago to Ms Nettleton from
her eldest grandchild Zaynab, who at 13 years of age, had just become
the widow of infamous Sydney jihadist Mohamed Elomar....

Age 13. She never knew what it was to be a child and a respected woman. The men are obsessed with the idea of a virgin. Children are not only soldiers, they are wives and some are mothers.

...Stranded in an Islamic State stronghold, Zaynab and her four younger
siblings find themselves at the heart of a national political debate as
to whether they – and their mother Tara – should be allowed to return to
Australia and if so, whether criminal charges should be
laid. The argument deepened last week when it emerged that Elomar was
killed in a drone strike, allegedly alongside his best friend and Tara's
own terrorist husband Khaled Sharrouf – who shifted the family to
Syria....

A husband and wife from Australia bought into the idea of a caliphate and moved to Syria with their five children. The thirteen year old was married, is now a widow expecting her first child. This is nuts. What was the problem unemployment?

The FBI in the USA has run sting operations where they picked up those so inclined to believe they could actually find material to carry out a mass killing. What the heck is this already? This is crazy? Wackos from Afghanistan who boarded jets to carry out a final expression of hate against the USA is more understandable than this. This is like nothing I understand. A mother and father allows their child to be a bride and sex object to a man who believes the best way forward for people is to commit genocide at every turn. This is more than hate. This is depersonalized demand via polemical. In order to dissolve a polemical, replace it with an other polemical of the same strength or more. But, emotionally, the attempt to reverse this brain washing would require the new dimension of thought to be as depersonalized as the initial, otherwise, it feels like sabotage to their paradise. If paradise has a definition of genocide, it will have a strong bonding to that end. Kill regardless, love those that kill regardless, give birth to other children to kill regardless. Attempting to use logic to reorient them won't work. They are simply being reoriented into a society they have rejected. I hate to tap the Saudi Arabia society as an example, but, it deals with this. They have a reasonably low recidivism. A legitimate reform has to be based in a similar method of Saudi Arabia. Who was it that took former Gitmo detainees?

..."The United States (click here) is grateful to the government of Oman for its
humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to
close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the Defense Department
said in a statement....

I would imagine being in Oman was a real reward after Gitmo. They could have families. They could have meaning to their lives by work. They could worship with people they understood. Their personal dimension hopefully became far more satisfying than extremism.

Australia didn't do a thing to these people. Nothing. There is absolutely no reason for an entire young family with five children to go to Syria forever. It is a polemical that takes over. Nothing else makes sense, at least to me. The thing about this is the child still misses her Grandmother. She is still holding onto Australia as a place where her grandmother loves her and her Grandmother continues to be content with her life. The men died and she turned to someone and some place where war is not a reality. I really think the child never let go of a life in Australia that made sense to her. It is a shame.

No one should be apologizing for the drone attacks. The Arab Coalition has to persist.

Ted Cruz:"Yesterday five unelected lawyers decided to ignore the constitution in allowing this change in our marriage laws.""Five unelected judges decided to ignore the 3 million American's preference."

So, let see. Senator Cruz seems to believe Supreme Court Judges should be elected. That is an unconstitutional stand.

Senator Cruz is stating there are 3 million bigoted members of the electorate that should have the right to hate and invoke discriminatory laws against other Americans.

November 8, 2012A cliff-hanger presidential election, (click here) major issues at stake, an
estimated $6 billion spent in the 2012 campaigns and an eight million
person increase in the eligible voters all failed to sustain the upward
momentum for turnout from 2004 and 2008.

Voter turnout dipped from 62.3 percent of eligible citizens voting in
2008 to an estimated 57.5 in 2012. That figure was also below the 60.4
level of the 2004 election but higher than the 54.2 percent turnout in
the 2000 election.Despite an increase of over eight million citizens in the eligible
population, turnout declined from 131 million voters in 2008 to an
estimated 126 million voters in 2012 when all ballots are tallied. Some
93 million eligible citizens did not vote.

The turnout percentage of eligibles voting was down from 2008 in
every state and the District of Columbia, except two – Iowa and
Louisiana. The turnout numbers of citizens who cast ballots were down in
every state but six – Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, North
Dakota and Wisconsin.

Let's take the facts and expand on it. There were 126 million Americans that voted in 2012. A constitutional amendment would be required to make the Supreme Court far more vulnerable to election rhetoric and demands if they were elected.

Senator Cruz states 3 million bigoted voters should rule the land. Not even in Texas is 3 million voters a majority to change the US constitution with an amendment.

October 15 ,2012

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade (click here)
today announced Texas reached a record number of registered voters on
the Official List of Registered Voters. As of Monday, October 15, there
are currently 13,594,264 voters on the list, the highest in state
history. This number will likely increase once all the voter
registration applications submitted by October 9, 2012 are processed.
Tuesday, October 9 was the last day to register to vote in the November
6, 2012 General Election....

The population growth in Texas speaks to a larger electorate. Texas added 5 million people to it's population from 2000 to 2010. Another one million to a total of 6 million were realized as a population increase in the last fourteen years. Considering 50 thousand per year came to Texas every year from 2000 to 2010, the last four years defined by 250 thousand per year makes one realize the immigration from other states is over. Texas won't be growing much more in an ideological goal post to own the US House.

Senator Ted Cruz is acting up when he carries out such rhetoric which reveals nothing but hate and meanness. He is not morally able to comment in a real way about any topic.

PARIS — A day after a man (click here) was decapitated at a gas factory in
France's second terror attack in six months, residents questioned
whether the nation is doing enough to stop terrorists."It feels
that these attacks are now happening back to back," said Ilan Cohn, 21, a
student in Paris. "I am afraid that there will be more and more, just
recently Charlie Hebdo and now this?"Yaccine
Salhi, 35, a man once placed on a "radicalization list" drove his truck
into a U.S.-owned gas factory in the southeastern French city Lyon on
Friday, triggering an explosion as his boss' severed head was found at
the entrance, authorities said....

There is still much to be done to "Daesh Proof" the global societies and their countries. I am sure NATO is appraised of the concerns of France. France is also one of the permanent nuclear countries within the non-proliferation treaty, so it is a target for the radicalized. But, the power of NATO seems more prudent than countries that are not organized into a national/regional security and defense.If countries within a region have strong national defenses there is far less threat than if they are free lancing. A treaty organization such as NATO really does benefit a greater understanding of sovereign stability. I am sure NATO does not know all the business of each country, but, there is a coalescing around the common understanding of regional security and stability.

I think the Arab League is very important. It will never be NATO because of the strong religious and cultural understandings within group of allies. But, if the countries were working together to reduce alliances of violence they would be making a great deal of progress toward reducing danger to their citizens. I don't recall Tunisia participating in any alliance treaty.

Libya and it's struggle to regain domestic stability should consider an alliance with other countries in Northern Africa. It would bring greater stability and civilized society and the rule of law. Those three goals should be part of any governing authority. The treaty could and should spell out clearly it's alliance. In other words extremists that want to over throw governments simply aren't tolerated.

Convincing Libya they need alliances and stability is not at all easy, but, their lack of a central government or an east and west government is robbing them of quality of life and predictable lives. Such instability is an assault against it's own children. While some children my die all the children of Libya have a dim future. There is no university or job market or a platform to spring board into a secure future for the Libyan children.

June 27, 2015By AP

...The shootings (click here) in the Tunisian resort of Sousse happened at about the same
time as a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait and an attack on a
U.S.-owned factory in France that included a beheading. It was unclear
if the violence was linked but it came days after the IS militants urged
their followers “to make Ramadan a month of calamities for the
nonbelievers.” In all, the assailants killed at least 65 people.

The SITE Intelligence Group reported later that the IS claimed credit
for the Tunisia attack on its Twitter account and identified the gunman
as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani....

Kuwait was a surprise. But. It is definitely an attempt to dissolve the sovereignty of Kuwait. What is terror? It strikes at the heart of the individual. In the USA when terrorist attacks occur, be they domestic or foreign, the people come together to defeat the fear and any attempt at a repeat event(s). However, there are regions in the world predisposed to anarchy and self-reliance due to any divide along religious and/or ethnic differences. Warlord cultures have existed a long time in these regions. So, these regions are not anarchy proof.

To realize Kuwait has a Shi'ite population is to realize Kuwait can be irretrievably dissolved. When ethnic attacks or religious attacks occur it specifically strikes at the heart of sovereignty. It is to cause the idea the governing authority is not benevolent to all the people, but, to a chosen people. That begins a spiral into anarchy and the loss of a cohesive society determined to defeat such acts. That is why this entire region is difficult to call to arms, ie: Iraq.

Kuwait has a very benevolent government and it's people are loyal to their leaders, both religious and government. I reflect on such stability with Jordan a well. They are allies to The West in a way that puts them on a global stage for trade and regional security.

The attack in Kuwait is probably due to Iran's assistance with violence in Yemen. Terrorists are terrorists. They have no loyalty. They have loyalty to a grossly strange strain of their religion. They are hungry for power and if given a chance they will seek to own the power of a sovereign country. It isn't the power of the sovereign country they actually hate, it is that they don't have the power and covet it.

That is the reality this region needs to come to terms with. That is why the alliance of Arab countries now engaged in defeating Daesh is so important. They have to come to terms with very hateful people that are completely ruthless and embrace genocide. Sovereignty has never been more important. The countries leaders understand the people better than anyone else and they need to lead and bring all ethnicity and religions under the protection of their sovereign borders. If a diverse benevolence is maintained, the terrorists will not succeed. The people have to bring their own knowledge of what is happening to destroy their country to the country's leaders. They cannot cower in fear within their neighborhoods hoping prayer to the 'right god' will end their feared fate. The people have to come together while accepting their differences. That is why any aggression by Iran is such a dangerous option. Iran has to stop placing hate into their diaspora and instead bring strength to their faith and their loyalty to leadership.

Iran is incorrect in seeing the Shia Crescent as it's chance to take over the region and unite it under a specific religious allegiance. In carrying out such a paradigm only a greater disdain of Iran will occur and will validate the hate Daesh wants to spread. Daesh stands as a burgeoning caliphate and Iran is giving the people every reason to believe it.

Iran is wrong in seeing The West as an enemy so much as an alliance on the path to the same sovereign stability other countries want to maintain. This entire mess with Israel is a huge problem. Israel, in it's ranting about hate, is causing far more problems than any Israeli leader wants to admit. Israel wants a reason. Iran currently is working at giving Israel the reason it seeks. Iran is it's own enemy.

ISRAEL'S POLITICS OF HATE is not a benign cultural definition. That culture of hate is causing a great deal of instability. It has to stop. The West, as Israel's ally should receive an apology from Israel as this attitude causes a great many problems. The culture of hate is completely dysfunctional for peace, but, it will bring about fear and a sincere problem for the region. It is very safe to say Israel is seeking to cause problems and end the negotiations with Iran. Israel needs to surrender to the idea The West does not treasure the hate it spews and it will not cause the kind of problems Israel seeks.

The only way the nuclear negotiations will fail is if Iran continues on a path of self-destruction. I am confident the P5 + 1 points this out on a regular basis. It is up to Iran to realize where their best interest lies. It doesn't lie in chronic reaction of Israel.

...If you were born after 1990, (click here) it’s easy to feel like
the entire marriage equality movement has happened in your lifetime. In
1991, Hawaii’s Supreme Court found the state’s refusal to grant marriage
licenses to same-sex couples to be discriminatory, launching the wave
of legislation and lawsuits that culminated in the US Supreme Court’s
affirmation of marriage equality yesterday.

But 40 years before Hawaii came to its senses, small groups of queer men
and women around the country were meeting in secret, under threat of
arrest, to discuss their political situation. The Mattachine Society
formed in 1950 in Los Angeles with a goal of bringing gay men together
to offer emotional support and education about gay culture. The
Daughters of Bilitis, founded in 1955 in San Francisco, brought lesbians
together and worked to educate one another and the public about female
homosexuality....

I heard some observation yesterday that Same Sex couples will gain tax favor when married. I guess so. But, that was part of it. The Same Sex couples were financially discriminated against including having to pay two health insurance policies.

The change in the tax burden for same sex couples will not sink the sovereign state of the USA.

Based
on the 2013 NHIS data [collected in 2013 from 34,557 adults aged 18 and
over], 96.6% of adults identified as straight, 1.6% identified as gay
or lesbian, and 0.7% identified as bisexual. The remaining 1.1% of
adults identified as “something else[]” [0.2%,] stated “I don’t know the
answer[]” [0.4%] or refused to provide an answer [0.6%].

More
specifically, 1.8 percent of men self-identify as gay and
0.4 percent as bisexual, and 1.5 percent of women self-identify as
lesbian and 0.9 percent as bisexual....

Making such observations to state the GLBTQ community is manipulating their status in order to cut their tax burden is mired in very deep discrimination. There simply isn't all that much benefit to argue a point like this.

...The standard deduction (click here) for a single taxpayer in 2012 is $5,950, but it's
double, $11,900, for a married couple filing jointly and jumps up to
$13,900 if both spouses are over 65. The standard deduction for married
couples who file separate returns is the same as a single filer. Each
spouse also is entitled to a basic exemption of $3,800, or $7,600 if a
couple files jointly, plus an exemption for each child....

A Same Sex couple without the benefit of marriage would pay exactly the same amount of tax if they remained single. ($5950.00 X 2 = $11,900). If am sure some Same Sex marriages will file as "Married but filing separately" no different heterosexual companies do on occasion.

The entire issue to imply the LGBTQ community want to have an advantage over their tax burden is nothing but discrimination and based in lies.

Yes, this was very cultural. But, that does not mean it is alien to others that do not participate in the culture regularly. He was magnificent. The words by the elders standing behind him after the celebratory mass, was that they were concerned with the pause. They believed he was either overwhelmed by emotion and could not speak or he was lost in his papers. The statements of Amazing Grace he stated at least twice and then paused, both the first syllable and his voice tone was an invitation to share the moment with understanding of the depth of the reality of grace. He wanted to emphasize the clear understanding God had granted grace to the country to bring about deeply needed change and welcome to that change.

It would be an injustice to the people of the country to simply state, this is blackness the president feels comfortable with. Granted, but, I can remember when he was within his blackness and without fear other than this moment. If is a mistake and a bit arrogant to simply state this is a cultural moment. It is more than that. It was patient invitation to find the same grace the church members were experiencing. That is my understanding and yes it was a pleasant surprise to realize how talented he was with an interesting introduction to the invitation. A talent beyond singing, but, grace itself.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — For President Barack Obama, (click here) it's become an all-too-frequent ritual: honoring the victims of
mass shootings in communities across the country.On Friday, Obama
will mourn with the city of Charleston, South Carolina, where nine
people were killed last week at a historic black church. He'll deliver a
eulogy at the funeral for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state lawmaker and
pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Church.The deaths of Pinckney
and eight others have sparked a debate in Southern states over the
Confederate battle flag, which for years has flown at a monument on the
grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. But the slayings have also
exposed the scant appetite in Washington for restarting discussions on
gun control legislation, which have made no progress during Obama's
presidency.White House officials indicated the president's
remarks would focus more on the victims of last week's shootings and
celebrating their lives than on those delicate political issues.But
White House spokesman Eric Schultz added: "It's hard to have an
extensive conversation about the tragic shooting in South Carolina
without mentioning some of the social issues we've been talking about
over the past week."...